No, thats not necessaily the case. We have 6 guys with 14s interested in going. I have a comp tip, and 2 others are getting them. The other 3 may or may not go based on finances and adding an expensive part to a 25 year old boat may be the deal killer for a few of them. Hard to tell, but I wanted to pose the question.

When I ordered my CompTip, I asked Matt Miller to verify the dealer cost. On a 14 it's $245.12. Not cheap, but not overly expensive. The retrofit kit includes the foam plug / aluminum plate used to seal the aluminum mast, new tang rivets / anti-corrosion strips and a new halyard.

That's only a little more than a new rudder. Less than half the cost of a new sail.

BTW, mine went on a 28 year old boat that I bought for $600 (including the trailer) just a week ago.

Personally, I would not protest a boat for not having a Hobie Cat brand trampoline, since no matter what you put on between the sidebars, it's not going to change the performance of the boat significantly. That doesn't mean somebody else wouldn't pull a red flag.

However, the boat would be subject to protest. I wouldn't want to drive that distance and have somebody toss me out on an equipment violation.

I have the Hobie tramp that came with my boat that I'd be willing to loan (give?) to the person with the Earl Dame tramp to encourage them to come to the event. It's certainly not new, but there aren't any holes in it and it seems fairly solid (I'm replacing it with a new Hobie mesh tramp).

The Hobie 14 / Hobie 16 Women's / Hobie 16 Youth North Americans start on Friday, September 10 and go to the 12th. The Hobie 16 Open North Americans start on Monday the 13th and run through Friday the 17th.

All the racing is held on Oneida Lake from Oneida Shores Park in Brewerton, NY (just north of Syracuse).

I see you have the midwestern party/sailing attitude! I like it! I was at a regatta with some fellows from Wisconsin, who had one of those blenders hooked up to a chainsaw motor. I don't think they spent much time in protest meetings either, but one of them did say he had been chuming the sharks on the first race of the morning after!

I am pretty sure we'll be able to find a class legal tramp, comp tips are in motion and hopefully, we'll be bringing 4-6 boats from Iowa/S. Dakota. We also have 2 open 16 teams going and 2 youth 16 teams (my son and daughter being one set) going, so we're all pumped up for the long hitch on Interstate 90.
See you there.
cw

I am so there!!! Just for a short while, but I'd hate to miss this since it is so close to home. Oneida Shores is really nice by the way, and if none of you have ever sailed Oneida, it is beautiful and offers usually good steady westerly breezes.